Akufo-Addo has 'swindled' me; 'swerved' 2016 alliance cash - Odike cries

The founder and leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Akwasi Addai Odike is wailing because current president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has refused to make do his promise of a package for an alliance his party agreed with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the run up to the 2016 polls, MyNewsGh.com reports.

He disclosed that he has met the President 15 times since he won power on the matter just to ensure he fulfills his part of his bargain but he keeps tossing him and other executives of his UPP party around with the assurance it will be done.

“I have personally met the president 15 times here in Kumasi and Accra and each time he says Odike it will come be patient. But for two years now it has never come. They should keep faith with what we all agreed upon or else we will wash our dirty leanings in public”, he threatened on Kumasi-based Angel Fm monitored by MyNewsGh.com

According to him, the UPP negotiated a package with then candidate Akufo Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) before their two parties went into an alliance to campaign for the presidency.

It may be recalled that, Mr Odike who had earlier backed out from the 2016 elections, openly declared his support for candidate Nana Akufo Addo in November 2016 and set out to campaign for him from then.

“We are throwing our support to the candidate of the NPP simply because his vision and our vision is almost the same, we believe in industrialization, we think that industries is the best way to turn around the fortunes of this country for the better,” Mr Odike said in an interview he granted Citi FM on November 10, 2016.

He added that “Nana Addo is a very humble person, very affable and he is a man of intelligence so we believe that if this man is at the helm of affairs of this nation [and he is also a listener], we can advise him in so many ways to change the fortunes of this country for better.”

Though he would not disclose the details of the said agreement with candidate Akufo Addo and his party, he said persons like the current Mayor of Kumasi, Osei Assibey Antwi is in the know on this issue.

He said his party met with some staunch members of the NPP, most of whom are appointees and ministers of the current government before subsequently meeting with Nana Akufo Addo to finalise the deal at Beauty Queen Restaurant in Kumasi.

His comments come on the back of a meeting by the National Executive Committee of his party in Accra this week, where it was unanimously voted to kick him out of the UPP.

Speaking on the development on Kumasi-based Angel FM, Akwasi Addai said the executives took that decision because they feel let down that, more than two years that they helped Nana Akufo Addo to win power, he has not been able to secure the benefits for them.

He said he has tried his best to get the President to fulfill his commitment to the UPP, but it has fallen on deaf ears and that he cannot do anything about it again because his “hands are tied”.

The businessman turned politician asserted that there are many members of the UPP who can perform far better than what some appointees of this government is doing. He has said nobody can kick him out of the UPP as it has been communicated by the executives of the party.